Five Things to Look For: Redskins vs Texans

Five Things to Look For: Redskins vs Texans

The Washington Redskins will travel to Houston this Sunday to take on the Texans. Both teams are looking to rebound from a terrible year in 2013 that saw double digit losses for both respective franchises. While the game will come down to many deciding factors, the following five are the top things to look for as it pertains to the Washington Redskins.

1- The Redskins MUST protect Robert Griffin III: This is so important it could be have been written twice and no one would have cared. If the Redskins want RGIII to continue his progression towards being a pocket passer they must first build a offensive line in front of him that will allow the young man enough time for a play to develop. Here’s to hoping shifting Kory Lichtensteiger over to center and signing Shawn Lauvao to start at left guard is enough to improve over last years line.

2- The Redskins HAVE to find a way to be successful in the red-zone: One of the major issues the 2013 Redskins had was once they found themselves inside of the opposing teams twenty yard line, they stalled out. This years team needs to take advantage of the easy things and put 6 points up on the board when they find themselves inside the red-zone.

3- Will the Redskins be able to put pressure on the Texans backfield?: The Redskins looked impressive on defense in preseason, but that really means nothing now. Many times teams deliberately make their offense “vanilla” or simple. If the Redskins defense plays like they did in the preseason, on Sunday this could be a battle in the trenches. The Texans feature a shaky quarterback situation and a first-year coach who has no experience in the NFL calling plays or coaching. Arian Foster will be returning to the starting lineup after missing most of last year.

4- Improvement on Special Teams: This could be the most important part of the entire season, much less a top 5 list in week 1. The Washington Redskins had the worst special teams in team history in 2013. Several reasons/people are to blame for that but to be honest it’s a team fail first and foremost. The Redskins brought in key players who did well elsewhere on special teams and this years team looks to make a big jump in the special teams department.

5- Getting Comfortable: First-year head coach Jay Gruden has to learn on the job immediately and keep his head above water as well. He has tons of weapons on offense and a defense that is ready to prove many wrong. Gruden just needs to find his comfort groove.

Gruden and Griffin appear to be get along well, but not too well. Often times coaches get too close with their players and it ruins the player most of the time. Both of these guys need to get things in their minds comfortably collected.